{fashion focus} Styles for a sensational summer

You guys! It’s my last article of the year … is this a joke? No, it’s for real and I am saddened at the thought of it. So let’s get personal, shall we?

I am sitting here wondering what pieces of snappy fashion information I could leave you with for the duration of your summer. We will all be in various places across the country, dare I say the globe, so what could really be of interest to you now? I for one might be in the lovely city of Detroit (a personal favorite) and others of you may be in Cancun for an “internship” or what have you. Wink, wink. So I racked my brain thinking of something that would be of interest to you.


And it came to me! Beachwear of course!

Though I really have not so much to say about the subject, I want to encourage all of you — male and female alike — to remember to respect your bodies this summer. We already had our discussion on it, but I do want to reiterate to the men that Speedos are blatantly unacceptable in any situation. I mean, just think of those of us who have to look at you in those heinous, shouldn’t-have-been-invented pieces of material.

We can all agree that swimmers, water polo players and the like are allowed to show us their tanned bods, but no one else. Don’t even think about it. It’s just wrong. Nothing short of wrong. It’s just not right. So let’s get that splendid idea out of our heads. Even if you’re in France for the summer … don’t.

For you lovely ladies, I don’t have much to say to you, but I do want to bring up an article from earlier in the semester that discussed color. Let’s remember that color is important. White and baby blue look beautiful on tanned skin, so work that out. I can only wish I could wear a white bikini. It’s summer so bring out the pastels and brights — try to stay away from blacks … live up the season while it’s here. Don’t just wear your weather; wear your weather’s colors.

Take a break from classes and work every once in a while and look around you. The world is full of beautiful people and beautiful things to enjoy. It will be summer in just a few weeks. Some of us will be graduating and starting our new lives. Some of us will be venturing on to new wonders before we start up again in September 2003. I think we all deserve new beach attire. As Pepperdine students, we have earned it … though I do know that we spend most of our time at the beach anyway.

On a personal note, I hope each and every one of you takes care of yourself as you embark on journeys that might possibly change your lives this summer or that might just enhance the comfort of where you are right now.

No matter what, dress to impress, dress to kill. Life awaits you — be dressed and ready for it!

{originally written for Pepperdine's Graphic newspaper}

{fashion focus} Something for the imagination

For once in my life, I got an e-mail regarding my last article. Woo hoo! So I thank you, Nate Watts, for your thoughts.


Though Mr. Watts did send me some love in the inbox, I got many a reader who talked to me personally about the sentiment of saggy baggy pants on women. And since I love each and every one of you who reads my column every other week, I will write shortly about the issue of showing underwear among femme fatales.

Let me first say: Let's not let that happen, Ladies. I mean, come on! Do any of us really think it's attractive to show off what doesn't need to be seen?! Wear a belt. One that fits. My seeing your choice of underwear is totally unacceptable, including classlesss. Yep, I said it. Sure, it happens to me and I get totally embarrassed. I mean, I should buy some extra belts, too, ya'll.

I will say one thing as a woman (I have this urge to stand on my soapbox so here we go): We as ladies cannot give men reasons to disrespect us - whether in action or in dress. It's easy for them to see us as property or easy targets for hormonal pleasure, but we are so much more than that. We are daughters of a King who wants us to love ourselves, our bodies, and who we are as much as He loves us.

I am saying this much, Beauties: tight clothes and low-rise jeans do not need to define who you are - be you and love it. Any man who wants you because you dress or act a certain way is worth as much as my faux Tiffany bracelet (and that was free, OK?). Here it is - fashion is something that I like to pride myself on; we all do. But as my mom says, "It doesn't matter what size it is, it matters if it looks good on you."

I'll admit that I'm not the skinniest lady in the world, nor am I built the best, but I know who I am and I love it. The man of my magazine dreams may walk on by and not glance at me once and it's OK. I don't have to impress anyone with how I dress, what perfume I buy, or how many times a month I get my toes done (though twice a month is highly recommended). Because that man who I've always dreamed about, he won't take me for granted, he will respect me, he will cherish me, and he will treat me like a princess. And, most likely, I'll fall in love with him without even knowing it.

Ladies, and you guys as well, when it happens, it happens. Know who you are because you love to sing or dance or write. Fall in love with his stare or with her smile. Cover up and respect your bodies because they're temples. After all, we want to leave something for the imagination - and let's be honest here, underwear hardly ever matches.

And that, my friends, is just tacky.

{originally written for Pepperdine's Graphic newspaper}

{fashion focus} I see France now pull up your pants

This week I decided on boys. I want to write on boys. Well, not on them per se, but about them — I wanted to write on the subject of boys. I feel as though I leave you all out every other week and I thought I should mix it up a little bit.

We go to a school where the boys are notoriously known for dressing better than the ladies at times … I daresay much of the time. But our ladies are vixens of fashion so this can only mean that we have one heck of a beautifully dressed school. But what happens when bad clothes happen to truly good people? I can tell you one thing that happens … saggy non-baggy pants.

It’s been the style for more than five years now, am I wrong? This whole sag your pants and wear them baggy below your bottom and down to your knees thing? Really, am I right or am I right? I thought they went out with the formerly ever-present skort but much to my amazement, the fad has outlasted Jennifer Love Hewitt’s career.

I myself am all about it … I admit that I am indeed a huge Eminem fan and love the look, but what about when you boys forget the baggy part of the equation. Lately I’ve noticed that boys like to wear tight jeans (which I enjoy heaps more than baggy pants) sagging around their thighs. Is that right? I mean, honestly, is that okay? What is the sense of having jeans that are wrapped around your thighs with a belt holding them “up?” Is it comfortable? Is it in? I need to know because I find it disconcerting and totally unattractive when I look at a fabulously dressed male and suddenly I’m staring at a mix of Ralph Lauren plaid boxers, a studded belt and tight jeans hanging around skinny legs. Pull them up!

Let me tell you what I’m really hot and bothered about. The pants are usually too short. That’s right, they are just too short and the mix of the non-butt, cropped pant just boils my water. It’s just too much all at once. I am not one to complain and leave you with no resolution, however. Indeed I’m not. So, what can we do to remedy the situation?

Well, if you’re wearing these pants without the accompanying hat, shirt, shoes, and look that really make the jeans say “bah-dow!” then you just need to revert back to normal pants coupled with a Pepperdine t-shirt. If, on the other hand, you want this punk rocker look, we can help with the saggy non-baggy problem. Jeans that fall just above the hips (us ladies call them hip-huggers) with an un-assisting belt wrapped around them would make the look complete. You’d have a bit of a sag without the unsightly appearance of underwear.

So pull up your pants, throw on a trucker’s hat from the Goodwill, a used shirt from the Salvation Army (or Urban Outfitters … any will do), some Converse All-Stars, and you are set for a night on the town. After all, we are a beautifully dressed campus; we need to make sure we dress accordingly.

{originally written for Pepperdine's Graphic newspaper}

{fashion focus} Showing your true (Pep) colors

Next week, we as a university will be celebrating one heck of a week. With that in mind, I thought I would chat a bit about Homecoming fashion — well not fashion, per se, but Homecoming color.

Our colors are orange and blue — two of the most intriguing hues in the color spectrum. Of course you must wonder, as I did for a while, how the color blue could possibly be interesting — or more so than others.

I was sitting on the beach last weekend watching the sun fall down through the water to the cities beyond my vision and I noticed that orange and blue make up one of the most beautiful color combinations I have ever seen. The gold that was left over from the sun’s last minute rays sparkled across the wet sand as the tide met with the beach — it was then that I saw what beauty was.

The blue hue spanned from white to navy in one fell swoop and immediately I realized all of the emotions that colors could possess. In just a few minutes, the sun went from broiling red to bronze to a yellow tinted blanket across the deep blue of the ocean. And there it was, the feeling of surrender to something beyond my control — the marvelous and definite separation of the water from the sky.

I know Pepperdine’s colors are blue and orange because of the ocean and the orange groves, but I choose to think that it’s the beauty of the ocean as it meets the last hint of day painting a glorious new picture for us to appreciate each day, every day.

Next week we’ll have T-shirts everywhere in various colors of blue and orange — some deep, some muted. Some people will even go all out and get ribbons, pants, jewelry and hats that enhance the occasion. And it will be wonderful. We will be a sea of orange and blue for a week (or at least a game on Wednesday and one on Saturday) showing the beauty of who we are as a united school.

There isn’t much to Homecoming fashion because it just seems to be “whatever goes,” but for one week, people can see who we are. We are a campus on a hill, we love our school and we love the ocean.

And we are lucky.

We are lucky to be where we are, where we can sit on the hill outside Dorm 14 or along the road on Greek Row and stare at the beauty that is Pepperdine.

I guess this wasn’t really about fashion this week, but about what to wear next week. I encourage you to look back in your closet and pull out that old orange tank or sweater and pair it up with some jeans, grab that tattered hat you bought when you were first accepted back in high school and slide it on. Let’s show Gonzaga who we are as a school and go out to support our basketball teams in glorious splendor. We have the opportunity to be a sea of orange and blue — two glorious hues in the spectrum that make up one of the most beautiful color combinations that I have ever seen. After all, there’s just something about that ocean . . .

{originally written for Pepperdine's Graphic newspaper}

{fashion focus} Why not wear your weather?

It's that time of year again, and that we live in the 'bu, we must be prepared for every season - even winter. And since a significant portion of the Pepperdine population is from Seattle, we may rest assured that some of us know what "rain gear" is.

Yes, rain gear.

In the past we have, as a collective whole, been known to wear our flip-flops everywhere. I have even been known to wear them a time or two in rainy San Francisco. But we need to now learn how to wear the weather... That's right: wear the weather.

Let's be honest here, backless shirts went out with August and were, to the dismay of myself and plenty of others I'm sure, worn throughout the month of September. But if this type of apparel were meant to be worn throughout the year, the raincoat would never have been invented, boots would not be in every department store and tiny shoe boutique, and scarves would solely be used as waist ties.

Now you must be wondering what I'm talking about with this "wear the weather" business. I simply mean to say that there is a time and a place for everything, including that Abercrombie mini jean skirt that you scored at half price during a summer sale. But, sadly, the time for those sorts of items is not now.

It's getting cold around here, even when most of us arrived on our heavenly campus a week and a half ago and it was 80 degrees out. Therefore, let's look at what's in our closets that will compliment us and our surrounding temperature. There are really cure bootcut jeans available right now that could take the place of that adorable slit-up-the-front skirt or those shorts that you guys wear that hit between your knee and calf.

As for sweaters, merino wool is the place to be. These fabulous numbers can quickly go over any collared shirt to make a nice, snappy casual outfit and the colors just don't quit. I enjoy a nice black or pink, whereas my brother really likes maroon or grey. Journey out, explore, buy - those babies are on sale now!

I digress, however, back to the rain gear.

Honestly I don't believe anyone I know own any piece. Myself, I have one thing: my automatic umbrella. With the push of a button I'm not "covered in rain" as Johnny Mayer sings, but am totally dry. Hey, with an umbrella there really isn't any need for hats or waterproof jackets.

Nevertheless, the temperature tells us what we should wear, as well as bring with us out the door in the morning. It's the middle of January, wear those bulky sweaters and pea coats - there are way too many good-looking ones out there to not wear them while you can. Let's think about it: if we weren't supposed to wear our weather, the stores would still be full with summer tanks and spring florals.

So wear winter up.

{originally written for Pepperdine's Graphic newspaper}